Archive for the ‘Society’ Category

This is a multiple edge sword that is as old as mankind. It has been based mostly on race and religion. However, it’s probably been based on even broader ideals than this. It’s also mankind’s most hurtful of sins. Discrimination hurts everyone every single day.

Slavery which is almost as old as mankind itself is nothing more than a form of discrimination. We had it here in America for many years after the United States became a country. Before that it was recorded to have happened in Europe and the middle east. Slavery often happened during or after a war between two different people for the most simplistic of reasons. It wasn’t till the Europeans became slavers that slavery became a thing of race.

Thankfully slavery was abolished both in Europe and the United States. European’s were the first to abolish it. Great Britain was next and then the U.S. Alas, slavery still exists but in a quiet underworld sort of way.

Not to be outdone, religion became the most vaunted form of discrimination in modern time. It started with the Roman’s against the Christians not long after Christ. The Crusades in the 14th century was next. Again we had discrimination by religion in World War II. Then it was discrimination against the Jews. Religious discrimination happens even today with Catholics against Protestants in Ireland as well as Christians against Muslims in the middle east. There’s even Muslims against Muslims in a secular way. Secularism is in just about every religion and is another topic all together.

These are the two largest forms of discrimination. However, there are other forms of discrimination. You can be discriminated due to sex or other things. It still happens today even in the United States. Terms like nerd, dweb, and others are nothing more than a form of discrimination. You or those that use terms like this are separating those you describe as this into a specific group and discriminating against that group. It even happens by “class” of people. The wealthy look down their noses at the poor or less fortunate. This is a form of discrimination as well. Even age is discriminated against in some places.

No matter what, discrimination is WRONG! People like you, me, and others should NOT discriminate for ANY reason whatsoever. This next phrase I’m about to type here is the EXACT reason there shouldn’t be any discrimination at all. WE ALL BLEED THE SAME COLOR! That’s right. WE ALL BLEED RED. Then why is there discrimination? This is a question everyone should be asking each other instead of calling someone racist or other name to instigate a fight or even war. We all should be talking with each other instead of fighting over words or beliefs or whatever the reason is for discrimination. Enough said!

Stop right there. Think about what you’re doing when you come here. Why did you come here? It wasn’t for pictures was it? Well you didn’t come here for anything other than that. It’s obvious. You came here to read what words I may post. You do this everywhere you go. Not just here or online. You read everywhere. Signs, books, newspapers, even text on your phone. But have you ever thought of just how literate you or anyone else is.

Dictionary.com gives three separate meanings for literacy. They are as follows:

Let me go one step further here. Without the first you will NEVER have the latter two. If one can not read nor write as I’ve shown you here then one does not have even the barest of education nor do they have knowledge of a specific field or subject (well in some cases this can be learned without reading in the case of on the job training). Both skills are taught in school or at home. In the case of the later, we usually learn that in school. In the case of the prior, we should ALL know how to read at least by no later than four years of age.

Reading is by far the most important part of literacy. If you can’t or won’t read then you’re missing out on an entirely different world view and distort your own perceptions of the world. We as adults should foster the need for reading and literacy in children when they are of the most impressionable years of age (usually from three to twelve and I’m just guessing on the high end). Even if you can’t read yourself seek help learning. You’ll be glad you did.

I did some interesting research prior to writing this. I’ll give two particular sites here for information:

The first site gives a pretty appalling report of literacy in the United States alone (as of 2013). The second is a map that shows the literacy of the world. Overall, our world looks good for reading and writing. Now take into account the levels at which you, your children, and myself read at. Today’s children can read no better and in many places worse than those that grew up when I was a child. The best most people can read at is a 6th grade level and often times there are places where people can’t even do that.

There are things we can do to stop this backwards slide of illiteracy. Parents must spend more time reading to their children till they are of an age to understand symbols (a.k.a. the alphabet) so they might be able to read on their own. If this can’t or doesn’t happen, then perhaps the grandparents could assist. I personally know one grandmother who has all her grand kids reading alone by three. I’ve met some of her grand kids. They are very bright indeed.

Alas, corporations as well as government attempts to dumb down our society in order for them to better control your lives (it’s part of a POWER play). Even the newspapers (corporate owned) only print to a sixth grade level and some even print articles at a fourth grade level. It’s no wonder people are not learning nor are they capable of learning if you’re reading comprehension is at that level. It follows that your quality of life will suffer as well. It’s also no wonder that companies are either outsourcing or screaming bloody murder about the lack of education in new employees. We must do better than this.

As a child, I for one spent more time with books than most kids my age. By the time I was twelve I read at a college junior’s level. Funny thing was I was understanding those books as well. If I were reading a book you would find a dictionary nearby in order for me to find out something about a word that puzzled me. Even now that I’ve aged, I still read pretty heavily. A lot of life’s lessons can be found through reading. I’ve read from fantasy, science fiction, biography, as well as technical manuals to self help books (transcendental meditation).

Reading has a vast affect on society as well. Those less learned than even myself find themselves out of touch or just plain ignored by the more learned. The bad thing is people who are learned should instead of turning away and ignoring the issue should be less rude and more pro-active in helping those that can’t read. We (due to the fact we can’t read) are sliding down a slope we need NOT be on to begin with.

The philosophy here is to spend more time reading and less time on the television (boob tube is the aptly given name for it because of the low quality of it’s educational purpose). Spend that time researching the web or with a good book for an escape. You’ll be better off for it and may just develop into a good human being instead of devolving.

Many of you might wonder how my holidays went. Being homeless doesn’t always allow you to have great holidays or holiday cheer. Almost all the homeless would much rather spend them a different way than out in the street, sometimes cold, sometimes wet, and sometimes hungry. Some have better holidays than others even if they are in the street.

Myself, I’m not much of a holidays person after my father passed away. I tend to prefer to be alone even though I’m often lonely for someone of like interests. I spend the days much like I do now. Usually reading a book and going to one of the few places who feed the needy on those days. One of my favorite places to be is a local park where few homeless go. It’s here where my story of benevolence begins.

From just before Thanksgiving all the way through Christmas and even on to my birthday (January 5th), I’ve been the recipient of the benevolence of others outside the usual and even more from the usual. Not once but five times I’ve had people whom I didn’t know come up to me and give me money or offer me food. Almost every time I’ve attempted to refuse the assistance. Not out of pride, but out of concern for those attempting to give the gifts (some of these I believe can’t really afford to do what they do but do so anyway).

Most of these folks I’ve met this way have been younger than myself (I just turned 54). Some have families, others do not. Those that have had families, I’ve tried to explain that they should put that money into their families and not into my hands. Others, like the gentleman who I’m guessing was around 75 years old, smile when I finally do accept their offer. In the case of the 75 year old, I’d like to think it brought him some pleasure and joy to help out his fellow man. Two who helped me out I’ve known through helping them help others in my shoes. I won’t name them, but they know who they are.

The one thing I always do with these people is attempt to befriend them. What I would much rather have is their friendship and understanding instead of their money. Over my 54 years, I’ve learned that it isn’t about “money.” I no longer crave the material things I once craved. The one thing I crave most is friends since it’s not likely I’ll ever have a family.

Very few of these people do I ever see again. Though I don’t find it odd, I find it odd that they wouldn’t take credit for doing what they do. These are the true benevolent soles out there. The ones who don’t have a lot and yet they go out of their way to help a total stranger out. They may or may not do this in just one place. Often times, they would much rather be forgotten for their good deeds.

Well, to those that helped me out with charitable contributions, I thank you. Even if I’ve never known them or never got their name, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your money was well spent on either food or keeping my bicycle going. As all my followers know, I don’t have the vices of drugs or alcohol to use the money on.

As you know, I’m a homeless veteran. Recently I witnessed something that should not happen. Actually two things. I witnessed both greed and fraud at the same feed for the homeless. I’ve pretty much covered greed before, however this is a different type of greed. When I speak of fraud, I’m talking about those that come to those places that feed homeless and eat when they got food, shelter, automobiles as well as other items the homeless don’t have.

Let me talk first of those in the homeless community who are greedy. These are the types who come to homeless feeds desiring to be the first in every line whether they need the food or not. Many of these types come to multiple feedings per meal time whether it be breakfast, lunch, or dinner feeds. They take what they want and then throw the rest of the served food away instead of offering to someone else who may need it. This is wasteful and down right ignorant. Those that prepare the food expect it to nourish those in need of this food. Yet I see it all the time. What’s worse is they like to jump lines of people already there waiting to be served or just waiting for a ticket to be served. This doesn’t count the disrespectfulness towards those that prepared the food by throwing unwanted food out.

I had just that happen last Saturday. A female who I’ve never seen at a local feed jumped the line that had already formed up for tickets. Thankfully the person who I’d assumed had the tickets didn’t have them. They were being doled out by someone else. This person was wrong even though she was female. I could have seen it if she’d had small children, but she didn’t have any. It was pure greed. This wasn’t the only thing I saw at that same said feed.

I witnessed two almost brand new sport utility vehicles (one Ford Explorer and one Mercury Mountaineer) pull up and have more than two people get out of each of them and grab tickets including the drivers. These vehicles retail for around $40,000 each. If you can afford to drive these vehicles and pay the gasoline bill for said vehicles, you should have a home (I’m sure these people did) and have food on the table. Wrong again. These people were frauds. They are people who had everything needed but were taking advantage of free food. This isn’t the only feed I’ve seen this at. I’ve seen it at the Trinity Episcopal Church breakfast on Sunday’s as well. This and the prior type people happen EVERYweek there.

Though needy myself, I only attend the feedings I need to sustain myself. I eat at most three times a day and sometimes as few as once a day. Most of the time I’ll use the Soup Cellarfor lunch and various feeds for dinner throughout the week. On Saturday, I only eat at the Resurrections feed (often called the HotDog Man) feed during lunch sometimes but not always getting a second serving there. Sometimes but not always, I’ll catch breakfast at a local park before the Saturday lunch. Sunday’s I eat at Trinity Episcopal Church’s breakfast and eating only the supplied bag lunch later in the day unless I’m able to get and store additional food from the day before.

If I get a third meal during the weekdays, I get a snack at the coffee shop set up for the homeless. It may not be much (usually amounts to a PB&J sandwich or some sort of sweet), but it gets me by till lunch. Yes, I’m a caffeine hound. This generally goes with at least three cups (6 ounce) of coffee.

For those that are homeless and read my blog, you probably have witnessed this type of stuff happening in your area or see various sources of food literally dry up because of actions like this or other actions. My message to those homeless that get greedy, stop and think about others instead of thinking about just yourself. You’renot gaining anything by your actions. Should things continue to get worse around Columbia, you might even find yourself getting killed over your actions. There are those that would consider this (I’m not one).

Now a message for the phoney frauds or those that are considering it. Years ago in San Diego, California the state and the Internal Revenue Service (federal) caught a man defrauding the government for taxes as well as defrauding the state of California citizens. He was imprisoned for his fraud and lost everything. He was panhandling on a busy freeway on ramp. This man was making in excess of $30,000 per year and driving an almost new Lexus, not to mention he was paying for a rather nice home this way. ALL FROM PANHANDLING! By now he is truly homeless for his fraudulent behavior after serving time in both the state of California as well as a federal prison system. IS IT WORTH LOSING YOUR HOME, YOUR AUTOMOBILE, AND ALL YOUR OTHER POSSESSIONS TO DEFRAUD OTHERS?

Posted in Homeless, Society | Comments Off on Needy, Greedy, and Fraudulent Homeless!

A couple of years ago, I lost my grandmother. At 91 years old she’d said she’d seen enough. Only this morning did it dawn on me what she meant by that comment before passing. She lived through the Great Depression, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Dessert Storm and some of the current wars not to mention several years of vast change in this country including Women’s Suffrage and the Civil Rights Movement.

I’m too young to remember a lot of these things. My only recollection of things during my grandmother’s later years was of my uncle leaving for Vietnam (he did two one year tours there), my neighbor going to serve the National Guard during the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, and of course I served in the Navy during Dessert Storm. It makes me wonder just what I’ll witness next.

These are but a few things I’ve not seen in my fifty three years of life so far. I’ve seen many more things than I’d like. Some I’d much rather not see, especially here in the United States. At this point in life, I can honestly say I’m with my grandmother on what her last feelings were. I’ve seen enough to make a grown man not just cry but to curl up and want to die.

I was once a proud citizen of this country I call my home. Doing my patriotic duty serving in the U.S. Navy wasn’t something I did just for a job. After all these years, I can’t honestly say I’m proud of this country. Actually, I’m mortified. The people (especially the politicians) should be ashamed of themselves for the treatment they give those that are in as well as those who have served this country in the military. They gave their lives or part of their lives in order to keep this country the way it is no matter how messed up it has become. Yet, they are looked at as second and often times less than third rate citizens. The illegal immigrants get better treatment most of the time.

Greed seems to be one of the things I’ve witnessed the most. The saying “competing with the Jones'” comes to mind here. Everywhere I’ve gone, everyone I meet, and every job I’ve been in seems fraught with who can get what for little or nothing of his/her time. My last job with Sam’s Club will attest to that. I worked there not even a year before quitting. I was USED by day shift and management (my immediate supervisors) to get ahead (advance up the corporate ladder). What did I get out of it? Nothing more than an “at a boy” and a pay raise of only fifty cents an hour (the only pay raise I ever got there though I increased sales in my section by 30%). Now I’m homeless again for my NOT cow towing to people who use and abuse others for their own personal gain. It’s shameful.

Worse yet, I’ve seen this same greed and treatment of African Americans by not just Caucasians but by other African Americans. Nowhere is that more prevalent than in the distribution of illegal drugs. Of course, this particular thing happens not just in the African American communities, but in other racial communities as well. Drugs are not a racial discriminator.

Discrimination is probably the second most prevalent thing I’ve seen. Nowhere have I seen it more pronounced than in the impoverished neighborhoods and in the south. However, it’s not just the African Americans against the Caucasian Americans and vice versa. I think the worst discriminating race I’ve met is the Asian Americans. Not so much in the northern part of the United States, but here in the south it’s abysmal. These people, if they could have it their way, wouldn’t associate with anyone.

Personally, I don’t look at the exterior of anyone anymore. I look at what is inside. The personality of the person I’m talking to or the person I care for. Personality is everything. What is on the outside doesn’t matter. WE all BLEED the same damn color, RED! Plain and simple, there should be NO discrimination anywhere. Yet it still happens.

From there I’ll mention history. Nowhere in history has any government lasted longer than in the United States. No monarchy, dictatorship, or other form of government has lasted so long. I’ve worked both sides of the fence and studied both sides for a long time. This government is DOOMED to repeat the errors of the past by not looking at what happened to past forms of government. Alas, history is no longer truly taught in the school systems. For that matter not much in today’s school systems is useful with the exception of math and science (and the so called Christians want to remove science from the system as well) to progress a person to a meaningful life. But history ought to be a required subject throughout a students scholastic years. Fully half the politicians in our current government know little or nothing about history and how greed has been the downfall of most all governments. The other half ignore history though they do know of it. These politicians think they have a “great civilization.” Yeah right. For whom? Them of course. Not the average person on the street.

The two oldest professions in the book are politics and prostitution. They actually are much the same. The career politician is nothing more than a whore. More so than the prostitute on the street. I’ve read recently where several politicians sold out to a major corporate interest. They voted to support the oil industry in certain claims because a large amount of their campaign contributions (BRIBES) came from that one industry. Two are members of the House of Representatives in Washington D.C. Another four to six are in the Oklahoma Assembly. The exposure of this as well as that of several assemblymen in the North Carolina Assembly for taking large campaign contributions (BRIBES again) from corporations for votes proves my point entirely. Just another thing that makes me wonder, “Have I seen enough yet?”

And while I’m at it, let me mention military procurement. Everyone knows what happens to some extent there. It’s in the news just how much the “Joint Strike Fighter” is costing the taxpayer. This is but one example but let me use it. Corporations are not only using retired military personnel, but also BRIBING active duty personnel to push through stuff the military doesn’t need or in some cases even wants. Yes, I agree we need a joint strike fighter that serves multiple missions for all branches of the service. Where I don’t agree is on the cost. Currently, each JFS (as I’ll refer to them now) will cost the American taxpayer over $100 million apiece. That cost is growing on almost a daily basis. Now the Navy’s old FA-18 Super Hornet was around $85 million apiece to give you a reference. Granted we’ve had advances in many things but do we need all those things. Americans are fighting two wars of completely different propensities. We are fighting terrorists and computer crackers (the correct term though the media uses “hackers”, the incorrect term). WTF do we need a joint strike fighter to fight these wars for?

As I’ve said, I’ve seen many things. Some things I’ve seen here in Columbia, South Carolina I’m shocked at since I would think I’d see them on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, California instead of in the Bible Belt. Two things I witnessed here is just plain stupid even for a couple of homeless individuals. First of all, two obviously homosexual men fornicating in front of a closed store at 2AM. Secondly, a heterosexual couple fornicating in broad daylight under a blanket in the middle of a park. Granted both situations involved homeless people and I’m ashamed to be mentioned in the same sentence as either of those four individuals. Those four people have no sense of social dignity let alone anything else. Of course, this is the only town where I’ve witnessed the aftermath of a knifing in as well. Never did I witness these things in San Diego nor Los Angeles while stationed aboard two different ships going through the shipyards of Long Beach. It’s truly amazing what you witness in a town of just over a hundred thousand people that you don’t see in cities of over four million people. Need I say more?

I won’t say much more. I’ll just leave you with a thought though. When you’ve seen what you think is enough, just wait. You’ll witness more.

This is a topic almost NEVERdiscussed and I feel it should. It seems that NOBODY and I mean nobody pays attention to this topic at all. Most people worry more about the nutritional feeding of school children than they do the homeless. Aren’t the homeless a member of society too? What puts more strain on the Medicare/Medicaid programs?

A while back, I did a posting on the various places that feed and shelter the homeless. Unfortunately, I did not go into great detail on the feeding of the homeless. I hope to correct that here with additional information.

It’s said around Columbia, South Carolina, that “if you go hungry around this town, you’re not trying to get food.” This for the most part is true. There are tons of places feeding at various times of the day/week. I’ll list several here:

Oliver Gospel Mission (from here out known as OGM)

Ebeneezer Church (usually prepared by the Salvation Army)

Trinity Church

St. Peter’s Church

First Baptist

Soup Cellar

various other groups large and small

The three main groups here are OGM, Ebeneezer, and the Soup Cellar. These are the people feed on a daily basis. Well OGM and Ebeneezer do. The Soup Cellar serves lunch during the weekdays but is one of the main providers of food. Here is where I’ll admit even I don’t have all the facts. However, I’ll tell you what I know about OGM and the Soup Cellar. I’ll relay what I’ve heard about Ebeneezer (we call it Ebisqueezer).

OGM I know well. You’ve read what I’ve already said about them as a shelter. Now you’ll know what think of their food service. My biggest complaint about OGM’s food service is not so much the food, which is often times donated and reasonably fresh (sometimes you get a meal that is prepared the same day, sometimes not). My biggest complaint against them is with a cook that adamantly will NOT follow the Department of Health’s food preparation regulations. But to talk of their food is another thing entirely. Yes, there are times you get what is suppose to be nutritious and it is a balanced meal if nothing else. Problem with any prepared food (most of their supplies come from U.S. Foods when it’s not donated), it’s not really nutritious at all. It’s more like institutionalized food. Over cooked and tasteless. I’ve had vegetables there that were like mush. Meats are mostly soy or fatty. Donated meals are often overcooked as well. Anyone in their right mind knows overcooking food ruins the nutritional value of the food not to mention fatty foods raise cholesterol levels. Oh wait, they think pumping too much overcooked veggies into you to up your fiber levels will prevent this. Bullsh*t! This isn’t the only thing I’ve been served there while I did eat (I no longer go to OGM for anything) there. I’ve actually had to eat or starve some stuff there that I wouldn’t slop a hog with and being from rural Michigan, I do know what they slop hogs with.

Now the Soup Cellar on the other hand does NOTserve anything but lunch Monday through Friday as well as most holidays. For the most part these people are a group of churches in the community who provide lunch for the homeless as well as those needy people who are barely getting by. Their lunch consists of two sandwiches of which on is PB &J (you all know what that means), soup during the winter months, fruit cups during the summer, and cold sweet tea. The bread here is generally fresh though at times it suffers. PB & J is generally nutritious and not overly fat. The soups during the winter are generally good though they tend to be either too much salt or too much pepper. And, as God is my witness, they use far and away too much beans in their soups. I can deal with green beans, Lima beans, or even butter beans in my soup but they’ve gone beyond even that making some of their soups totally inedible. When you can pick up an eight ounce cup of hot soup and the bottom comes filled with no less than four kinds of beans (some of which I’ve never heard of or eaten before other than the ones I’ve mentioned) you’ve gone far to far. Homeless people don’t need all the fiber and protein that they are getting fed. Now where the Soup Cellar gets decent at is getting other things like pasta salad or bagels or things like that in to supplement their usual offerings. I love pasta salad personally. However, their pasta salad often has far too much oil (oil based dressing) and again beans in it. The other pasta salad they serve from time to time is mayonnaise and mustard base. This type is excellent for the most part. But again, they ruin it by adding beans. I don’t mean just any beans either. I mean a bean that is red in color and leaves a foul taste in my mouth. When they use this bean in the soups the soups often come out looking like human manure and tasting just as foul (NO I DON’T EAT HUMAN FECES). At least when the soup is good you can have all you can eat of it.

Ebeneezer, I’ve only heard minute things about. Mostly the meals they are served are done by the Salvation Army or so I’m told. When one hears of the Salvation Army, they think how good they help the community. One only has to look at the South Carolina Salvation Army’s record. Especially the fact that it fired one of it’s Major’s for embezzlement/fraud and said person is still in jail last I knew. The only thing good I’ve heard about Ebeneezer is that they serve dinner at all. The biggest complaint I’ve heard is that their portion size is way too small. Go figure. Sounds to me like the Salvation Army hasn’t gotten rid of their corruption issues yet.

There are other places to eat for the homeless. These are the three main ones who serve a meal or sometimes two a day. Others (churches, private individuals, and small groups) seem to do better than the larger feeders. One church for certain takes precedence. That is Trinity Episcopal Church who does breakfast every Sunday. It is at least a nutritious breakfast of grits, scrambled eggs, sausage, warmed apples, milk, and coffee. The apples part is new as they use to serve baked beans and orange juice instead. Personally, I welcome that change with the exception of dropping the OJ.

Sadly, the homeless AREN’Tgetting the proper nutrition for what they have to face on the street. Often times the homeless are walking from one place to another to warm up in the winter. Most of these places feed a high fat, high protein diet instead of getting these people what they need. People burn a lot of energy quickly during the winter especially. A high carbohydrate diet is called for in the winter for the homeless. Fatty and protein rich diets do not metabolize quickly enough for the person to maintain energy for what they are doing. I can see the high protein diet in the summer where the homeless are less likely to move during the heat of the day.

Proper nutrition is everyone’s concern. Even today’s children are being fed better stuff in the school cafeteria now than what the homeless are fed. They at least get more choices. The homeless get little or no choices in what they are served breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

The only way we can get people off the Medicare/Medicaid merry-go-round is to educate them as to proper diet (yes, advertising actually is getting better for food substances on this issue). The homeless need better nutrition in order to face the environment (especially if they don’t go into local shelters). A great deal of the food fed to the homeless is largely FAT, PROTEIN, and SUGARS. These are absolutely the last things the homeless need at any time. Especially those that are diabetic as there are a large contingency of those that are homeless. Feeding a balanced diet of protein, carbohydrates (not over cooked vegetables), starches, and dairy products would go a long way in taking a number of homeless out of the health care system.

Far too often the homeless are getting fed some of the nastiest stuff known to man because it’s CHEAP and the providers can get away with extra money for themselves in return for providing a minimal amount of sustenance for the homeless. All to often, some of the food is day old stuff (mostly baked goods from a local bakery) or stuff that wasn’t sold at a local restaurant. OGM is notorious for doing the later as a cost cutting practice. Is it better than some of the stuff the relief organizations feed the third world countries? In one word NO!

We can do better than this in America. Yes there are children still not getting their nutritional requirements at schools across the U.S. But think about it this way. Many who are homeless or possibly about to become homeless will be that much more of a burden to society if their health fail due to improper nutrition. I myself have witnessed it’s effects on me. At one time, my body was eating it’s own muscle due to improper nutrition. Would you rather see children on the street the same way due to YOUR GREED! Enough said.

This famous two word sentence got international attention when Representative Joe Wilson yelled it at the top of his lungs during a speech given by President Barack Obama to the joint session of Congress in September of 2009. Though he later apologized for his actions, ole Joe wasn’t far from the truth. Not just about the President but about all politicians in general. But this isn’t about just politicians. It’s about everyone and just how far they’ll go to get what they want.

I for one abhor lies. Even stretching the truth doesn’t go very far with me. Oh, everyone has his/her stories and they can tell it the way they see it. It’s when those stories are no longer stories and becomes lies they live with as truths for personal gain. That’s the one thing I abhor the most. This greatly narrows down the list of those I call professional liars. Now let’s look at the professions I believe to be professional liars.

Spin doctors as they are called. These people are used by government to make statements to make statistics look good for those in control of our government through various media sources. What people don’t realize is these people only present one side of any story statistically speaking. They tend to not include ALL of the facts. Are they liars? To a point their job is to lie to the public via not presenting all of the facts. In this case they are not really liars.

Meteorologists to use the proper term. Some may say they are liars but they are NOT. The issue here again is the amount of data this profession has to work with. They rely on historic data as well as garnered data captured by the current technology for forecasting.

Prostitutes AREprofessional liars to a point. They lie more to their clientele than they do to friends and or their pimps (if they have them or they work for a madame). All the guys know their lies so I won’t expound upon them here. Even a large number of females know their lies as there are some that AREN’Tprostitutes that use these lies to get what they want.

Politicians on the other hand AREtrue liars. They lie not only to their constituent, but to anyone they feel necessary to in order to maintain their grip on the power they have. They also lie to garner campaign contributions (some of these contributions can be construed as BRIBES). Often times, they’ll even lie to the other people in their respective field of endeavor.

Often times, I wonder if they know just how many lies they tell. Do they count them just to keep track? Do they get caught lying? I’m not certain about the first question. The second question I can honestly say that they get caught. Just not often enough to help his/her constituents. I truly think the last honest politician we here in the United States had was Harry S. Truman. Even he probably hid the truth to a certain extent though not through blatant lying.

What we need in this world today is less lying and opinions. We have enough lying. Opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one and they all stink. If there were more honesty in this world we as the human race would have a lot less strife than we currently have. Enough said.

Generally I don’t open up about myself. However, this has come to mind as I remember an old friend. Though he wasn’t a veteran, many veterans face the issues I face. Twenty five percent of all veterans will or have become homeless at one time or another. Below is a short story I wrote that would have been me had I not continued on. For many a veteran, this story is what they will go through. So here it is:

The Homeless Vet

He is awaken from a drunken stupor. Not from the person he shared the bottle with the night before. That one is sleeping quietly several feet away.

It isn’t from the hustle and bustle of the busy streets surrounding the alley he has awaken in. They are hundreds of feet away. Even the stray animals and occasional rat scampering about hasn’t done it.

Then he realizes what is happening. It’s not another he sees. But it’s his own prone body as a soft warm hand takes his own.

As his spirit lightens and rises, he continues to look down upon the body that was once his. Slowly the scene becomes larger as he turns to see who has taken his hand.

It’s as the city lights fade to stars that he realizes just who has taken his hand. It’s the only one who never gave up on him. Though no one will remember his body or his name, this man remembered his soul. The soul of a forgotten veteran.

I’m not a man of any set religion. However, this can and does happen to a lot of homeless veterans. Unfortunately, it’s not always alcohol. Sometimes it’s drugs. Some of those drug addictions are actually started from the Veteran’s Affairs hospitals in the name of prescription drugs relieving a patients pain or other disorder.

A lot of those addictions (alcohol or drugs) are actually people who are doing what is called “self medicating.” This is where a person who is taken off a narcotic drug, when faced with no further supply or limited supply drinks or does other illegal drugs to substitute for narcotics he/she would have otherwise be prescribed by his doctors. Then again, there are those that were addicts before they left the military (both legal and illegal drugs).

I won’t care to wager just how many homeless veteran’s end their lives each year due to addictions. My guess is that one in ten do though. It may be higher than that. At least I beat it. However, I’m far from out of the woods yet in this aspect. Temptation is still there, so this story may still come true for me. I certainly hope not.

I thought of something I myself wouldn’t do though I can get all the tools needed to do it. Is it illegal? Highly. Do I have the prerequisite knowledge to do it? Not exactly. Though I’m a CompTIA A+ certified computer repairman, I would personally NOT “crack” into any website or system server. I’m what the term “hacker” is. I learn one or more operating systems and if possible point out weaknesses to the company or group of individuals (as in the case of Linux distribution) in charge of the production of said operating systems of said weaknesses. That said, I DO NOT CONDONE CRACKING FOR PROFIT OF ANY KIND!

However, I’m not above challenging someone to do what some would think impossible. In this case, put mud in the face of big business and governments. How do I propose this challenge? Simple. Pose the challenge to those that find cracking to be fun, sporting, and down right anti-establishment in nature. Some of these people do this for profit as network security consultants. Funny thing is many of those consultants are probably nonvocal members of Anonymous. Though nonvocal, they are the ones that don’t get caught when assisting the rest of the group.

Frankly, I’ve found what Anonymous has done to date to be pure child’s play compared to what they can do. These people are probably ones who go to the Defcon and Blackhat conferences to learn new exploits/tricks to possess root access to the operating system they attack (Windows, OS X, Android, and others). Some or all are known to Homeland Security via registration for those conferences. However, those that don’t attend are those to watch out for. So here’s my challenge to those of Anonymous that are so endowed with knowledge that goes beyond anything I know or am willing to teach:

If you want to really show your salt (talents), stop with the current stuff you’re doing taking down websites as well as exposing client lists and do the unthinkable. Crack in and find the appropriate information exposing corporate/government corruption and put it in the public domain for all to see.

I’m certain this would be much more challenging and garner some of you folks the attention you deserve not to mention a possible position in computer security for major corporations not to mention governments around the world. And yes, I expect to be hauled in by Homeland Security (Homeland Insecurity 😛) for questioning revolving around said challenge. I’m not scared. It’s not as bad as something I’d write a book about. That would be much worse than what I’m challenging. Besides, I can’t be convicted for just putting an IDEA out there for others to act upon.

I’m already ostracized since I’m now homeless and without employment in my field of choice (Information Technology). My age alone (52 soon to be 53) is also a strike against me. No one wants someone my age in that field anymore unless it’s as a senior systems administrator or some position like that (and I’m not qualified for that). Consider this a big F**k You to the establishment who grew up before and during the same time I was growing up. You copped out.

Again, I state for the record that this is just an IDEA/CHALLENGE for those who can and are capable of doing this. I DO NOT CONDONE ANY FORM OF COMPUTER/WIRE FRAUD, NOR DO I ATTEMPT EITHER OF THEM. Even if I did, I couldn’t do it right now anyway as I have NO computers (laptop or desktop) of my own in which to do it with. I’m currently writing this from a library computer and will continue to do so till I can afford another laptop. That will probably be another year or two before that happens as is. By that time the computer world will surpass my knowledge even further than it currently is today 😦

Not since Rodney King and the Los Angeles police department did I ever expect police officers to be as they are today. There is just so much corruption, discrimination, and down right anger in the Fraternal Order of Police. The problem is how they represent themselves to the public. The other part is the quality of the officers they enlist for their employment/service.

One of the titles stated on the street for Columbia, South Carolina’s city police department is:

Uniformed Gang Members

In fact, they aren’t all that bad really. It’s just like society. They have their good and bad people. It just seems they have far to many bad people of late. With what they pay the CPD officers (Columbia Police Department), they seem to be getting the bottom of the barrel officers. These officers come from a couple of different camps. There are the type who are over aggressive and then there are those that are downright lazy in their enforcing the law.

Let’s first address the lazy type of officer. These are unique in that they have been on the force for quite some time now ( I’d like to say 5 years or more experience). I’m not going to go any deeper than that at the present time as there are some other issues with these particular officers. Most notably, they are overweight. Generally, these officers are much easier to deal with than the other attitude.

Most of the “lazy” officers tend to be easier going than the rookies. They’d much rather do something else other than harass the homeless. Here in Columbia we know that the police would much rather deal with real crime than cajole the homeless. They give their show of force by doing what they have to in that they patrol the area they are assigned. Some are quite nice. They give the homeless man a warning in the first incident then after that they up the ante so to speak (harsher violations and more).

The largest issue with these officers is that they generally don’t put pressure on the real criminals. They don’t stop crime where it starts (traffic citations). They also have a tendency to be corrupted easily but not as easy as others. A lot of times you’ll find these officers wasting time with others of their ilk. In this case, they are at the local coffee and doughnut hole (Crispy Creme, Denny’s, IHOP, or even Waffle House. Sometimes you can find them at mini conventions where you’ll see four or more patrol cars rolled up at the same location without any of them doing any law enforcement.

Now let me tell you a story of a different kind of police officer. Generally they are rookies or ones with less than five years on the force (though it could be ones who have had this attitude since they were rookies and made rank). Like children, they are easily swayed as well as much easier to corrupt than the later officers. I call them “yes” men as they will broadly apply anything their supervisors or even city counsels tell them to do.

Let’s start off with my own experience in Orange Park, Florida while I was homeless down there. With a friends help, I was able to set up a small CLEAN camp to live in. At the time I did not know it was private property. I later learned in a big and costly way. Had I known now what I know today, a county police officer would have lost his job.

I’d went to work one day for Action Labor in Orange Park for several hours. Once I returned to camp, I found what was left of my three man tent and all my belongings strewn all over the place and the tent literally cut to pieces. The worst part of it was a note left by what was presumed to be a police officer of Duvall County Florida. I was told in no uncertain terms to leave the property and the officer left his business card. Now this could or could not have been the officer named on the business card. It could have been an impersonator. Stranger things have happened.

Needless to say, I moved in less than three days. I chose so to avoid prosecution and also got permission to use company land of which belonged to the company I had hired on to from out of Action Labor. It was much better than the sixteen mile one way trip by bicycle to work and then back.

I don’t believe this is the only time it’s happened. I beat a ticket written out by an officer here in Columbia. The following Sunday while I ate breakfast at a local church, I left my panniers on the bicycle. They weren’t even three weeks old and I came to back to my bike (gone less than an hour) to find them knifed and stuff strewn over a twenty foot area.

I can’t prove anything as to who did the deed. However, I have my suspicions that the officer who’s ticket I beat had something to do with it. He’s one of those who probably has been on the police force less than five years and is doing just what city council wants just to earn his Sargent strips faster. He’s a known harasser of homeless and has had more homeless before the local city magistrate (judge) than any other officer.

Now this brings me to yet another incident I found out about just the other day. A homeless acquaintance of mine got the poles on his tent destroyed and it was witnessed by yet another homeless man. The person who did the deed here was a member of you guessed it. Columbia police department. Now it’s likely they will not be able to do anything about this as the witness will likely not come forward because of reprisals. Also, the acquaintance, was probably trespassing on private property for a while. I don’t know the entire details about his camp nor did I want to know. Safer for him and me.

These police officers are not only brutal in their willingness to make advancement but they will listen to just about anyone or do anything to get what they desire. There are names a plenty for these types. I’ll leave that to your discretion. And police wonder why the homeless WON’T help them or even communicate with them.

This is not only happening here but in several cities around the United States. There has been to my knowledge at least one death of a homeless man due to just such discrimination and hate. It’s not about race or anything else but the fact that people are homeless. It has to end here and now. We as a people CAN NOT tolerate this.

Now I’d like to share with you something I read in the local Free Times newspaper which you can read at:

“I have two rants I need to get off my chest today. Columbia drivers need to stop running red lights. You are not only putting yourself in danger but you are putting the safety of pedestrians and your fellow drivers at risk. I see this every day. People will blatantly run red lights and turn left on red lights. Please stop! I really don’t understand why our police will not give these selfish and careless drivers traffic tickets. Something should be done. I have seen two accidents due to running red lights. You know how Spain has the Running of the Bulls? well, Columbia has the Running of the Red Lights. And finally. Don’t stop doing your job because a co-worker (according to you) won’t do theirs; worry about yourself. What kind of logic is that anyway. Oh, and if Halloween is a fall festival, then Christmas is a holiday. A pagan one to be exact.”

The previous message exemplifies Columbia police department. Due to orders from city council, they would much rather harass a homeless man than stop the most petty of crimes. If they were to stop these petty crimes, then most wouldn’t graduate to felonious crimes to begin with, thus dropping our prison population and putting those tax dollars to use in better places like education.

Let me add that a recent bill which got canned in the U.S. Congress was about police being able to search your email, Facebook, and other electronic data without warrant. The federal Fraternal Order of Police is still trying to get this passed not to mention attempting to stop you from photographing/filming them while they are on duty (within reason: must be out of the way of harm/a safe distance from any activity an officer is doing in the line of duty). Feel free to do a search via your favorite search engine with the search of “videotaping police”. You’ll find loads of info on it and more.

Final thought for this. ARE WE BECOMING MORE AND MORE LIKE WHAT GEORGE ORWELL SHOWED US IN HIS BOOK ENTITLED “1984.”